


When Things Happen

by MelyndaR



Category: iCarly
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-09 11:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3248765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Carly leaves and his mother is murdered, Freddie - and his world - falls apart. But when he is both caught and unwillingly rescued by Penelope Garcia, and taken in by her team, he starts to rebuild his life with the help of the BAU team and the younger sister of Reid's that the genius never knew he had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Carly left for Florence, Italy, my relationships with Sam and Spencer fell apart. When my mother died at the hands of a deranged serial murderer,  _I_  fell apart. At the grandly imposing age of seventeen, I swore that I would have my revenge on the man who was the current terror of Seattle. I was convinced that this wouldn't be as difficult as it could have been; after all, my mother had appointed "Terrence" my legal guardian until I turned eighteen, and no one was as easily fooled or intimidated as T-Bo. Besides, he worked all the time, anyway, which left me - computer geek turned stalker of a murderer - free to do as I wished.

However, no one knew of my sudden obsession with this man. I quickly became very adept at basically leading a double life. On one hand, I went to school, talked to my friends, and acted like I was healing from my mother's demise. I even managed to convince the school guidance counselor of this, and, unlike most of the teachers at my school, that man is actually good at his job. On the other hand, I bought a gun from a man on the street after managing to convince him that I was actually twenty instead of a "measly" seventeen. I taught myself as much computer code and knowledge as possible. Finally, I tracked the murders and leads on the case with my computer using the help of some majorly illegal hacking into federal databases. All without getting caught.

Or so I thought. See, the thing is, I never counted on someone like Penelope Garcia coming along.

* * *

"This... whoever he is, is driving me crazy!" Penelope Garcia told Morgan, throwing her hands up in the air.

"You mean that you can't find him?" Morgan asked in confusion, watching Penelope anxiously pace her lair.

Garcia huffed, even stomping her foot a little bit. "No! Of course I can find him; I already have, thank you very much! He's some amateur hacker from Seattle. Freddie Benson somebody. He doesn't even know that I've caught onto him yet."

"So, are you going to tell the director or someone?"

At the perfectly normal suggestion, Penelope gave him a frustrated glare. "Hot stuff, you know that's not how I work."

"Baby girl..." Derek looked at her as if he was reproving a small child. "The new director won't like that."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because Rossi would totally be surprised by whatever technical actions I take."

"Director Rossi." Derek corrected her.

That earned him another eye roll from the moody technical analyst. "He still is and will always be just 'Rossi' to me, and to this entire team. And don't try and tell me any different, because we both know better."

Derek sighed. "Someone has been PMSing..."

"Derek Morgan, I am not!" Penelope gasped.

"Well, then what's going on?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Don't lie to me, Beautiful."

Penelope huffed and flopped down into her rolling chair. "Have I told you that I really hate profilers?"

"Yes," Derek laughed. "You have. Now spill the beans, Princess."

A weary sigh from Penelope and then, "I'm just really tired. What with everything that's been going on, and then the shifting within the team because of Rossi taking Strauss' job, and just this whole year. It's all just catching up on me, that's all. See, when you and the rest of the team are out in the field, you have each other to lean on and work off of. Except for a few minutes here and there during the day, I have me, myself, and I, alone all day in this dark room. And when I get that call from one of you guys, it's a lot of pressure to give results  _right now_ , and some days, even that little bit of extra pressure is enough to make it all almost too much."

"Aw, Baby Girl..." Derek came over behind her and began to rub her shoulders. "Do you want me to say something to Rossi for you? If you want an assistant or something, I'm sure that he could make it happen for you."

"No." Penelope whimpered and closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying Derek's massaging. "It would really just help my stress level if I could find this Freddie kid and get him off of my back and out of my system."

"Well, why is he interested in the case in Seattle?" Derek asked curiously.

"I haven't checked, but I think that he's the son of one of the victims."

Derek thought for a second before saying, "Is this a case that the team should be looking into? I mean, if this kid is trying to go after his mom's killer, he could get himself killed."

"We haven't gotten an invite to help with the case, and until we do, our hands are tied. Those are the rules, and you know that."

"Yeah, I do." Derek agreed. "But there are things that can be done to get the ball rolling in our direction, I'm sure. I'd bet that Rossi has connections. How about I talk to him and see what can be done about everything?"

Penelope shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, handsome."

"Just promise that you won't be mad at me?" Derek asked hesitantly, the wheels still turning in his head as he worked a particularly hard knot out of Penelope's shoulder.

Penelope opened her eyes and turned warily towards him, asking suspiciously, "Why would you make me mad at you?"

Derek kissed her on the forehead, deciding to take his leave before she asked too many questions. "Because I want what's best for you."

* * *

The next morning, Derek made his way up to Strauss' old office - what was now Rossi's office - and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Rossi called out.

Derek poked his head in before the rest of himself followed. "Hey, fatcat! How's it going for the new boss man?"

Dave smiled warily. "I'm adjusting. Now, what do you want, Morgan?"

Derek smirked. "No fooling you, huh?"

"You forget," Rossi leaned back in his chair and assessed the man before him. "Not only am I your new boss, but I am also still a profiler, and I am still your friend. So, what do you want? And, just out of curiosity, does it have to do with the fact that you finally noticed that Penelope has hit a rough patch?"

"Yeah..." Derek sighed. "Anyway, there's this kid that's been tormenting her - technologically, anyway. Everything is related to a serial killer case in Seattle. If we could go there and catch the killer, then that would be taking away at least one of Baby Girl's problems."

"Fine," Dave shrugged. "But I don't go on cases anymore, so how does this involve me?"

"We haven't been invited onto the case, and I thought that you might be able to help with that problem."

Dave's eyes clouded with thought. "Seattle, huh?"

Derek nodded.

"Let me see what I can do."

"Thanks, Rossi."


	2. Chapter 2

It was common knowledge to everyone on Agent Hotchner's team that Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid had a complicated family situation, however, in the past three months, circumstances had led to their being new meaning given to that word, "complicated." Upon the death of his father, William Reid, due to a heart attack, Spencer had found out – much to his surprise – that his father had remarried nineteen years ago. In a twist that Spencer found simultaneously horrifying and gratifying, William's second wife had left him after six years of marriage. What's more, she had left him with their then five year old daughter after giving up all of her parental rights and saying that she wanted nothing to do with her child.

Until twelve weeks ago, Spencer hadn't even known that William's ex-wife, Marilyn, or daughter, Alyson, had even existed. The only reason that he had found out about them now was because he had been appointed Alyson's guardian, per their father's will. That had, however, been a short-lived arrangement, seeing as Alyson had turned eighteen a month ago. Surprising and delighting even her brother, she had chosen not to move back to Las Vegas, where she had been born and grown up. She had chosen instead to remain with Spence in Washington, D.C. and take a job at the BAU as the new Director Rossi's secretary.

And so the blonde teenager had become an official part of their BAU family, although she had unofficially been so since the day of her arrival. And it was having Alyson as his secretary and all around assistant – not only to himself, but also to the members of his former team – that had caused Rossi to make the decision that he had concerning Derek Morgan's second request.

* * *

When the knock at his door that he had been expecting came, David Rossi took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and called out, "Come in, Garcia."

The expected technical analyst stepped into his office. "Anderson said that you wanted to see me… sir?"

The smile that twitched teasingly at the corners of her lips said that these formalities felt like something of a game to her. Well, he got the feeling that she wouldn't be smiling at him for much longer.

"I've got some good news for you, Garcia. I managed to get the team assigned to that case in Seattle, which means that hopefully your little friend – 'Fredward' was it? – will get out of your hair."

Garcia rose up on her tiptoes with glee and Dave smiled indulgently. "Oh, thank you… sir. See! I told Derek that you were still the same old David Rossi that we all know and love!"

She reached for the case file, but Dave snatched it away. "Ah, ah, ah, kitten. You may take the case… on two conditions. One: you go to Seattle with the team, track down Fredward –"

"He prefers to be called 'Freddie'." Garcia broke in. "And quite frankly, I don't blame him a bit."

"And you know that's that case how?" Dave asked with raised eyebrows. "Wait; don't tell me. I don't want to know. Just find the kid and make sure that he is brought back to D.C. Our old friend Senator Cramer would like to have a chat with the boy who broke into the FBI's system."

Penelope nodded once, quickly. "Done.

"Condition number two:" Here Dave mentally steeled himself for an onslaught of Penelope Garcia unhappiness. "While you're in Seattle, I want you to look over this list," he held up the sheet of printer paper containing the list that Alyson had copied off at his request. "And I want you to find yourself an assistant."

Garcia rolled her eyes, muttering curses under her breath against Derek, as well as threats to his credit score. "I will tell you the same thing that I told Derek Morgan; I don't need an assistant. No."

David sighed. "Please just do it; don't make me pull rank on this. I just want what's best for you and the rest of the team. It's my job to take care of you all, now more than ever, and now more than ever I can do something to make sure that happens."

Penelope glared. He had seen that she had gotten mad the moment that he had threatened to pull rank. He sighed again, watching her wearily. This new position of his was well on the way to being the death of him, but if he couldn't get the members of his old team – even the ever eccentric Penelope Garcia – to cooperate with him, then his goose had already been cooked while he hadn't been looking.

After a small stare-off, Penelope sighed, the heat in her eyes lessening into defeat. "You're not going to give in on this, are you, my Italian Stallion?"

"No, kitten. I want you to at least try working with an assistant. You can do background checks and to your heart's content, but when you get back from Seattle, I want you to be armed with a name to give me. Clear?"

Penelope sighed, beginning to pout like an overgrown child. "Fine."

She took the list from him. He smiled softly at her before she turned to go, and, to her credit, she managed to return the gesture, although it was hardly with the usual amount of Penelope Garcia gusto.

"Hey, Garcia?" She turned back to him from the office doorway when he spoke.

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you angry with me?" A question that was the means to an end.

She paused. "I'll get over it."

"Then do me a favor – do whatever you want to Morgan, but don't touch my credit score."

She grinned. "I have your express permission to do whatever I want to Derek Morgan?"

Dave nodded, knowing what she was thinking.

"Can I get one too few bedrooms in the hotel while we're in Seattle?"

Dave laughed out loud. "Knock yourself out, Garcia. You deserve a hotel stay with your boyfriend."

Penelope froze, asking nervously, "You know that we're dating?"

Dave just rolled his eyes. "Yes, Penelope. I'm a profiler who is the reason that the largely ignored fraternization rules exist, remember?"

"Yes, sir." Garcia grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

_One week later_

Just because Freddie didn't talk to Sam and Spencer much anymore, that didn't mean that he had gotten out of touch with Carly. As a matter of fact, since her move to Florence, they had gotten closer, much closer. Long story short, they had started dating again, even though it was a long – very long – distance relationship. Although he had been able to keep his sudden "extra-curricular" activities from her, they still managed to talk a lot on the phone.

At the moment, he was sprawled out on the couch doing just that while simultaneously flipping through channels on the TV. God bless T-Bo, he had unlocked every channel, which was how Freddie happened to see the news story. He sat up, straight as a rod.

"Carly," he cut her off mid-sentence before hanging up without an explanation. "I'm gonna have to go for awhile. I may be too busy to call for the next few days, so don't worry or anything if I you don't hear from me? Okay?"

"Oh. Okay. Are you busy with finals, or something? 'Cause I know it's that time of year over there for you. And senior year, too."

But Freddie had already hung up. He jabbed the mute button, and the sound came back onto the television.

A dark-haired, far-too-serious looking man was on the screen, speaking into the cameras. "I, my team, and the Seattle PD are pleased to announce that Seattle's serial killer has been caught, and is now behind bars."

There was more to the news piece, but Freddie didn't hear it. With that one sentence, he had stopped breathing and frozen entirely with shock. Why he hadn't expected this outcome, he didn't know, but he hadn't. Maybe he had thought that no one had noticed, or that no one would care. He had been so far absorbed in trying to find this man that he had failed to realize that the entirety of the Seattle PD had been doing the same thing, even to the point of bringing the FBI into the investigation.

After sitting unmoving on the couch for he didn't know how long, Freddie began to pull himself out of surprise. And that was when the thought hit him. He had been so obsessed with finding his mother's killer, John Hennessey, that he didn't know what he was going to do with his life in the immediate future. Carly was right, he probably should be concentrating on finals, but then what?

He sighed, deciding to go to his room and study. The future could be another thought for another day. Or so he assumed.

* * *

"Are you sure that this is the place?" Derek asked Penelope as they stood in the hallway of a Seattle apartment building.

Penelope nodded, double-checking the apartment number. "Yep. The apartment has recently changed hands from Marissa Benson to one Terrance Bowman, who is registered as Freddie's guardian until his eighteenth birthday, which is in two weeks."

"Okay then. I guess it's time to pick up your little friend." Derek reached out and knocked on the door.

From inside the apartment, a reedy voice called out, "Freddie, someone's at the door!"

"I'm studying!"

"So what!"

A protesting groan was heard as the young man, Fredward "Freddie" Benson, came to open the door. "Hello?"

"Fredward Benson?" Derek asked.

The kid nodded.

Derek flashed his badge. "I'm Derek Morgan and this is Penelope Garcia. Can we come in?"

Freddie's eyes widened and he froze, and then he whirled and darted into a bedroom – presumably his own – before he tried to slam the door behind him. Derek was a mere step behind and managed to put his foot in the door. Penelope followed carefully behind the two.

From another part of the residence, the man that Derek assumed to be Terrence Bowman came into the room, asking, "What's going on in here?"

To preoccupied with Freddie – who was currently trying in vain to sever his foot in two – to give Mr. Bowman an answer, Derek flashed his badge for the second time in as many minutes. The African-American's eyes widened before he slipped silently back into wherever he had come from. Ten seconds later, the man left the apartment altogether.

"Fredward Benson, you are under arrest!' Derek declared loudly.

"Freddie!" The kid screamed back at him.

And then he let go of the door and tried to crawl through his bedroom window. Still faster than the techie nerd, Derek caught him before he'd even cleared the window and yanked him back into the bedroom.

"Where's T-Bo!" Freddie demanded raggedly.

"Who?" Derek asked in confusion as he slapped cuffs onto the guy.

"Terrance!" Freddie explained irately.

"He left you, my friend, the moment that he saw there were feds here."

Freddie growled in frustration and tugged on the handcuffs as Derek led him back into the living room where Penelope was waiting while informing Freddie of his rights.

"I know my rights, you idiot." Freddie snapped.

"I'm not the guy who has thirty years worth of jail time waiting for him, and I didn't just add three more months to that sentence by resisting arrest. So I would be careful who you called an idiot if I were you, Fredward."

"Freddie!" the kid repeated, sounding as aggravated as Derek felt.

"Whatever." Letting his frustration get the better of him, Derek yanked on the handcuffs to indicate that Freddie should sit down on the couch. "Wait here with Penelope while I call my boss."

He walked out of the room to the sound of Penelope telling him to calm down and be gentle with the person who had been the bane of her existence for the past few months. Why all of sudden after they had found and gotten their guy did she suddenly want to baby the bratty delinquent? Derek just hoped that his girlfriend didn't try to somehow turn Freddie into one of her pet projects.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm sorry about my friend Derek." Penelope offered gently, sitting down carefully on the edge of the couch beside Freddie.

Freddie glared at her through his dark, tousled hair. "I thought that he was going to break my arm," he grumbled.

Penelope raised her eyebrows and defended her boyfriend by pointing out, "And he thought that you were going to get away. And should that have happened he and I both knew that he would have had to deal with a very frustrated girlfriend."

Freddie looked at her incredulously. "What do I have to do with that guy and his girlfriend?"

"You've been a great help in making life miserable for her, since it was pretty much her system that you were hacking into. How did you do that, by the way? Off the record?"

Freddie shook his head. "If I'm smart enough to hack into the system, what makes you think that I'm stupid enough to just randomly give out that sort of information, especially to a cop?"

"A) I'm nowhere near as much a cop as the people that Derek and I are going to be handing you off to. B) I might just have an idea that will keep you out of prison. Is that something that you might be interested in?"

Her snappishness was now matching his, and she could tell that surprised him. It almost surprised her, but then again, not really. This cocky brat had made her life the pits, or at least played a decent part in doing so.

But maybe he wasn't really as awful as all of that after all. He looked down at his hands for a second, and for that moment in time his expression changed. He was suddenly insecure, vulnerable, and afraid. He was just a kid who had been trying to avenge his mother's horrible death.

And apparently he didn't want to go to prison, because he just nodded his agreement to whatever plan she had, looking defeated.

"Good." Penelope's voice was gentle once again as she repeated, "Then I need you to tell me how you hacked into my system."

His eyes flickered with surprise as he asked, "'Your system'? You designed it?"

Penelope shrugged. "Close enough."

Freddie relaxed back onto the couch, realizing that he had found a technological peer, and began to give her the information that she wanted. Derek came back into the room while Freddie was still explaining, but he stayed silent and stuck himself in a corner, listening to what he recognized only as "tech talk."

Freddie wrapped up his conversation with a shrug, saying, "It was hard to get the hang of at first, but now it's just a normal thing that I do."

"And that statement right there is why I think that you are going to be great for the job that I have in mind for you," Penelope declared with a friendly smile. She stood up and turned to Derek. "Do you mind if I go make a call to Rossi?"

Derek almost groaned, realizing what his girlfriend had in mind, and muttered, "Baby girl, are you sure that's a good idea?"

Penelope nodded. She was smiling, but her eyes had taken on a dangerous tint, and that meant that he was not to cross her on this kid. She was very sure, and he wasn't going to be able to change her mind, so he might as well not even try to.

"Alright," Derek gave up with a sigh.

"Thank you, lover." She bounced up off the couch and out into the apartment building's hallway.

Derek stayed where he was in the corner and glared at the juvenile perpetrator while keeping his arms crossed. Freddie looked up at him nervously.

"Nice girlfriend," the kid offered.

Derek kept his response clipped and unfriendly. "I know."

"Look, man," Freddie shifted, looking Derek hesitantly in the eye. "I just wanted to catch the freak that killed my mom. I didn't stop to think about what I was doing, you know? I just knew that it – using technology, hacking and stuff – was something that I could do to make it right."

"So that you could kill him."

"No!" Freddie's eyes widened and he shook his head emphatically. "I wasn't going to kill the guy, I swear! I was just going to hand the information over to the cops once I knew who the guy was! I just wanted justice! I've seen how long serial killers can go without being caught, and I just didn't want this guy to get away with what he did to my family! Can't you understand that?"

It was stupid to let his guard down in front of this kid, after all, he'd already proven that he would run if he could, but Freddie had struck a familiar chord.

"Yeah," Derek admitted. "I can get that – more than you'd care to know or guess – but I never would have been stupid enough to take the law into my own hands."

"But I wasn't! I was just… giving the cops a hand."

"Well, that's obviously not how the cops have been looking at it, is it?"

Freddie looked off to the side. "No." A pause and then Freddie asked, "Is that why you became an agent? So that you could get justice for whoever you were talking about?"

He had no reason to answer that question, and maybe he shouldn't have, but Derek was pretty sure that the reason Freddie had asked was simply to get his mind off of the current circumstances. "I became an agent for myself. My dad was the guy that I was talking about, and I guess that he did have a part in my choice, too."

"What happened to him? Your dad?"

Derek sighed. "He was a cop who I saw killed in the line of duty when I was nine."

"Oh man," Freddie whispered. "That must have been awful."

Derek nodded, almost telling the kid how badly he had messed himself up after that.

Instead, Freddie asked quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask, but I don't have to answer."

Freddie looked at his hands, inquiring softly, "Does it ever get easier? The missing them so much?"

"Oh, kid," Derek's tone was as gentle as Penelope's had been, but he didn't even notice. He walked over to the couch and sat down in the place that Penelope had recently occupied. "This stuff takes time, but, yes, it will get easier after some time goes by. You just have to keep living, keep going."

Freddie scoffed, saying, "The only place that I'm going is to jail!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you," Derek warned. "You might just end up going home with me."


	5. Chapter 5

"Penelope, are you  _sure_  that this is a good idea?" David Rossi asked for what he knew had to be at least the fourth time.

Even through the phone, he could hear the unflappable exuberance in Penelope Garcia's voice that was her trademark as she answered, "Yes!"

"I just don't know what I think about this idea of yours; let alone what the senator will think of it. I mean, letting him loose in the BAU?"

"You mean just like the powers that be did with me?"

"That was different." Rossi argued.

"How?!"

"For one, you weren't an overly hormonal, emotionally unsound teenage boy."

"No, I was just overly hormonal, emotionally unstable grown woman. With a criminal record, which is something that Freddie doesn't have!"

Rossi sighed. "Penelope…"

"Please, Rossi? The worst that they can say is no! And besides, if it matters any, by the time that his case would end up getting to trial, he would've had his birthday and turned eighteen, which means he would legally be an adult, not a kid, and they would try him as an adult – an adult who can take a job in lieu of a jail sentence. Right?"

"Right. But, Pene-"

She broke in desperately, "Then, please, just talk to them?"

Rossi sighed. She sounded so much like a dang kid begging for a special present from Daddy that he knew he wouldn't be able to refuse her request. Besides, the worst that they could tell him was 'no.'

"Alright, kitten; I'll see what I can do."

She squealed through the phone, and despite himself, Rossi smiled as he hung up. Then he sighed again and picked the phone back up. Now onto the much less happy go-lucky Senator Cramer.

* * *

The next day, Dave sighed as he stood up from his desk and prepared to go down and meet the team's jet at the air-strip.

"Alright," Alyson walked beside his as he headed into the elevator. "What's been bothering you today, boss?"

"The new kid has been bothering me." Dave grumbled, frustrated at Alyson's ability to read him when most other people couldn't. In a lot of ways, she reminded him of Ashley Seaver, and that was one of them.

"Who? The hacker from Seattle, that Freddie Benson guy?"

Dave nodded before asking, "Do you think that Penelope will be able to handle him?"

"I think that the real question that you should be asking yourself is not whether Penelope can handle him, but will he be able to handle Penelope Garcia in all of her bright, bubbly, fluorescent glory."

"You're probably right," Dave admitted with a smile.

Alyson nodded. "M-hm. That's why you keep me around."

"But can you do me a favor anyway?" Dave questioned. "Can you maybe hang around him and Penelope for awhile while he's at work, just in case anything does go wrong, so he doesn't get any wild ideas about what he can and can't do in an FBI building, particularly in its technological realm?"

"Are you kidding? What else do I live for?" Alyson grinned up at her recently acquired father-figure. "Of course I will. Alyson Reid, director's assistant turned all-around gopher, at your service."

"Thanks, kiddo."

Alyson shrugged off his gratitude as if it were unnecessary. "Babysitting him is apparently just another way for me to earn my paycheck."

"That it is." Dave agreed leisurely, already feeling more relaxed now that he was outdoors. "Now let's just hope that he doesn't make me regret giving him the job in the first place."

* * *

William LaMontagne, Jr. stood at the tarmac in Quantico. He was waiting for the BAU's A-team to land in a plane that was carrying both his wife and Fredward Benson, the teenager that he was supposed to escort to the police station and keep an eye on for a few hours while something about him got straightened out here at the Behavioral Analysis Unit. After a couple of minutes alone in the silence, David Rossi and Alyson Reid, the latter of whom was JJ's new pet project, came to join him in his waiting game. He lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave and Rossi and Alyson copied the move. A couple minutes more in the stillness and then the jet roared into view and skidded onto the runway. He watched as the plane landed and the team began to stream from the jet.

Agent Hotchner came first, already on the phone with Beth, telling her that he had gotten back from another case unscathed. Behind him, the new girl to the team, Agent Blake, was also on the phone, giving her husband, James, the same anxiously awaited information. Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia came next, arm in arm, with Agent Morgan toting both of their go-bags. And last, but certainly not least, came JJ, leading Benson in front of her.

Will smiled and started forward towards his wife, meeting in the middle of the distance between them. He allowed himself to ignore the juvenile delinquent for as long as it took to kiss JJ. His wife blushed lightly, the PDA catching her off guard since the kid was right in front of them.

Said kid mumbled irritably under his breath, "Is no one on this team not dating another team member?"

Embarrassed, JJ cleared her throat and shot Will a half pleased, half reprimanding look from her huge blue eyes, and then said, "I think this belongs to you."

Will sighed, hardly relishing the task that he had been assigned or the fact that it meant an immediate departure from his just-returned wife. "Yep, I'm afraid so."

"Well, happy unbirthday to you, then." JJ said, handing the teen over to him. "I guess I'll see you later on at home."

Alright,  _Cher_." Will gave JJ another quick peck on the lips and headed with Fredward towards his police cruiser.


	6. Chapter 6

"That's the guy who's been tormenting Penelope?" Alyson asked skeptically, watching Freddie's back as Will led him away.

"Yes. What about him?" Hotch asked after hanging up with Beth.

"Well," Alyson considered her answer for a second before she gave her reply. "He just doesn't look like a criminal or anything."

Rossi's eyes narrowed as he looked at her in silence.

Morgan answered, "Aw, come on now, Aly, you've been around long enough to figure out that the bad guys don't have a particular look to them. We've caught a fifteen year old serial killer before, you know that, don't you?"

Alyson nodded. "But he just looked scared, not dangerous."

"You're right." Penelope informed her. "Personally, I really don't believe that he's a bad kid. He just messed up when his mom died, and he happened to have the skills to mess up very badly. As it is, those skills are now going to be harnessed and used for the good of humanity with the help of yours truly."

"It should be interesting," Alex Blake mused. "Watching him get settled into this job, I mean."

"Do you think that he'll even be able to handle it?" JJ asked curiously, seeming a little concerned.

Rossi asked, "What makes you say that?"

"He seemed a little wimpy, if you ask me." JJ answered. "Kind of sheltered for his age."

"From what I have found out about his mom, that doesn't surprise me." Penelope revealed. "It seemed like she was very overprotective of him."

"But I will say this for the kid," Morgan declared. "He does know how to run."

"Well, my chocolate god, unfortunately that won't help him since he's going to be sitting on his butt in my bat cave with me all day staring at computer screens."

Morgan shrugged. "True."

Rossi asked Penelope, "So you think he'll be okay for doing a technical analyst's job?"

Penelope Garcia nodded.

"Good; then that's all that I need to know." Rossi declared with an edge of finality.

The conversation was ended and the agents with Alyson headed inside of the BAU. Rossi lagged to the back of the group, and grabbed Alyson by the elbow to make sure that she stayed back with him.

Leaning over to whisper to her so that only she could hear, his eyes dark and serious, Rossi said, "I'm going to say this because your brother is too clueless to notice, and I'm the next in line to him when it comes to your authority figures: No."

"'No' what?" Alyson asked cluelessly.

Rossi glared, looking very much like she thought a father should. "No getting attached to the new criminal that Penelope has drug in among us."

Alyson raised an eyebrow. "You can relax, Rossi, I'm not going to get romantically involved with a hacker; they're all a bunch of hopeless nerds anyway - really not my type. I'm too much like JJ for that."

"Yes," Rossi smirked. "Because JJ has never been on a date with a man who qualifies as a hopeless nerd."

"Huh?" Alyson asked, eyebrows creasing in confusion. "I meant that I want a nice gentleman with some social skills, like Will. If she's been on a date with a nerd, I've never heard about it."

"Oh, that doesn't surprise me;" Rossi's grin widened. "After all, I'm not supposed to know about it, either."

* * *

"So you seem pretty friendly with the FBI." Freddie offered, glancing at Will from the back seat of the squad car.

"Yeah; my wife is a member of the BAU."

Freddie sighed. This guy was apparently going to be as tight-lipped as everyone had been on the five hour jet ride here from Seattle. He had gotten used to the quiet since his mother's death, but the silence of today was different somehow and it left him starving for a decent conversation.

"Look," Freddie tried again. "I'm not a real criminal, you know."

The cop glanced at him in the rearview mirror, a smirk tipping his features. Freddie read his expression and the look is his eyes as loud and clear as if the man had said the words out loud:  _That's what they all say._ Freddie sighed and stared out the window for a couple of minutes.

"Do you have any family?" he tried again at a conversation.

"Yep; and I would be with them right now were it not for you."

Freddie frowned. "If it helps you to know this, my day hasn't been much better."

"No! Really?I hadn't figured that one out on my own."

"I don't want to be here either, just so you know."

"Yeah, again, that's not hard to figure out."

"Look," Freddie bit out. "I'm sorry that you can't be with your family right this second - believe me, I've been alone a lot here recently and I know how awful it is - and I'm sorry that you have to spend your evening with some apparent scummy juvenile delinquent instead of your pretty wife and innocent kids, but I  _need_  someone to talk to me, or I'm going to lose my mind." After a second-long pause passed in silence, Freddie asked, hating how pathetic he sounded, "Can't you at least tell me your name?"

"Will LaMontagne, Jr." the guy informed him gruffly, eyes back on the road and glazed over with boredom.

"What's your wife's name?" Freddie inquired.

"They didn't tell you on the plane?"

Freddie shook his head. "Most of them gave me the silent treatment, all of them but Penelope."

Officer LaMontagne smiled lazily to himself. "Figures. If I were you, I'd be grateful that she took a shine to you; from what I gather, that woman can hold a powerful grudge against someone when she wants to. And she's awful dangerous with a computer."

"So I've figured out." Another moment of silence and then, "You never told me your wife's name."

"Jennifer Jareau."

"What about the others on her team?"

"Why so curious?"

"Well, from what little Penelope has told me, I think that I'm going to be her assistant, which means that I'm going to be working with them now."

"They're going to make  _you_ a part of their team?" the officer asked skeptically.

"Unfortunately."

Officer LaMontagne chuckled to himself for reasons that Freddie could only guess at. "Oh boy,  _mon ami_ , good luck to you."


	7. Chapter 7

"Why would I need luck?" Freddie asked nervously.

"Because that team is like a freaking guild. They're just now starting to really include me in things that might be going on, and JJ and I have been together for very close to forever. "Freddie raised an eyebrow. Seeing the action, Officer LaMontagne amended, "Well, we've been together since 2007, anyway."

Freddie nodded. On any other day, this would have been the most boring conversation ever, but he needed the normalcy of a conversation - any at all was better than nothing at all. So he asked the cop another question about the team, and then another, and another. Little by little throughout the evening, question by question, Freddie asked Officer LaMontagne and the other man answered with what he knew. It was in this manner that Freddie learned about the people that he was soon to be working with. Also in this way, both Freddie and Officer LaMontagne reached the uneasy brink of a friendship that they hadn't expected - the same thing that had happened with Penelope and maybe, Freddie mused, even with Derek Morgan.

Late that night, Freddie got the chance to discover just what it was that he might be able to develop with Agent Morgan. The imposing African-American was going to put him up for the night. Or as Agent Morgan had put it, "Put up with him for the night."

As he walked in the door behind Agent Morgan, Freddie took a step back in surprise as his heels were assaulted by a jumping terrier.

"That's Clooney." Agent Morgan introduced with a small laugh, tossing his go bag onto the floor and scooping up his dog. "Clooney, this is Freddie. He's going to be staying the night with us." He leaned forward and Freddie heard him whisper in Clooney's ear. "It's your job to make sure that he doesn't steal anything."

Freddie couldn't help but wonder if maybe the man wasn't kidding. "I'm a hacker," Freddie dropped his own bag onto the floor and looked around. "Not a thief."

The other man cleared his throat uncomfortably and put Clooney back on the floor. "Yeah... Well, anyway, you can sleep in the guest bedroom tonight - it's the first door to the right."

Freddie found the room and quickly changed into pajamas. Crawling into bed, he instantly fell asleep, thanks to the sheer exhaustion caused by his day. Thus ended the longest day of his life. And his first day with the BAU.

* * *

The next morning, Freddie woke up slowly. He looked around in confusion before it all came rushing back to him and he realized where he was and why he was there. With rays of sunlight streaming through the window and birds singing, the weather promised a wonderful day. His upcoming new job, however, promised nothing of the sort. He groaned and pulled the blankets over his head.

Just in time for Derek Morgan to come bursting in with Clooney at his heels, a flurry of noise and happiness. Freddie wanted nothing to do with either of them at the moment.

"Rise and shine, kid! We gotta be at the office in forty-five minutes or else Baby Girl will have both of our heads."

Freddie rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, intent on ignoring his host - or captor, whichever was more accurate. He grunted as he felt a solid weight with prodding claws land on his stomach. Clooney. He shoved the dog off of him, and off of the bed, with one solid swipe. Clooney yelped in surprise.

"Hey," Morgan snapped. "Don't you mess with my dog." He yanked harshly on the covers, and they flew off of Freddie and off of the bed. "Now, get up. It's time to go to work, you misplaced little momma's boy."

"I am not a momma's boy!" Freddie objected, finally sitting up as he came to the realization that he had no other choice.

"Yeah..." Morgan mused. "Sorry, but I doubt that."

"You don't even know me," Freddie grumbled, getting up and yanking on a pair of jeans.

He followed Derek Morgan into the hallway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"One thing you're gonna learn about profilers," Morgan informed him, tossing him a granola bar from across the kitchen. "Is that they always know you better than you think they do. And when the time is right, they aren't afraid to use their knowledge of you against you. So step carefully." Morgan paused. "And just so you know, stay away from Alyson."

"Alyson?" Freddie ripped open what was apparently to be his breakfast. "Who is that?"

"The blonde who was on the tarmac when we got there, with Rossi. I know you saw her."

"Oh, yeah." Freddie shrugged. "You can relax; I already have a girlfriend. She lives with her dad in Florence, Italy."

"Italy, huh?" Morgan asked skeptically as he grabbed his jacket and the two headed out the door.. "That's a long way from Seattle."

"Yeah, it is." Freddie said, buckling up as Morgan backed out. "But it's been okay. It works for us."

"That's gotta be hard though, especially for a couple of kids like yourself."

"Yeah," Freddie stared at his hands. "I don't want to think what she's going to say about all of this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't talked to her since you guys came around." Freddie admitted.

"She doesn't know that you're relocating to Quantico?"

"Nope."

Morgan hissed through his teeth. "I'm not exactly known as being the greatest guy when it comes to long-term relationships, or pretty much relationships in general, but even I know that's not a good thing, kid."

"So, what do you suggest, Dr. Cupid?"

Morgan snorted. "First, that you find more inventive insults. Second, that you give her a call. You've got twenty minutes 'til we're at work."

"You want me to call her now - while I'm in the car with you, a guy that I barely even know - and explain everything in under twenty minutes? Great plan. I can totally see why you don't do good in relationships."

"Fine." Morgan snapped at him. "Don't do it. I'm trying to give you some advice, because this job and all is going to turn your life upside down and inside out and I thought that maybe a familiar voice would do you some good, but if you think not, then don't do it. Just forget I said anything and I won't try to help you out any more."

Freddie sighed. "Listen, man, I really do appreciate you trying to help, and believe it or not, I really am grateful for this job and the second chance and everything, but Carly..." Freddie trailed off, trying to find the right word. "It's not that she's awful or anything, because she'd not, but it's just... with everything that's gone on with my mom, I've grown up a lot in a really short amount of time, and she hasn't. She just seems really naïve. I know she's not - that she's always been really bubbly and innocent and it's just me, that I'm the one who's changed - but she seems like a lot more work now then she was when we started our relationship. It's not the same anymore as what it used to be."

Morgan blinked, surprised at the outpouring of information. "It sounds to me like you two are going down."

Freddie snorted. "Thanks for the great advice and encouragement!"

"Hey," Morgan shook his head. "I've been in your spot often enough to call it how and when I see it. Just saying."

Sighing, Freddie dug his cellphone out of his pocket. "I think I'll send her a text, just to check in."

"Good plan." Morgan smiled. "And, hey, call her a pet name. Girls love that."

_Good morning, sweetheart._


	8. Chapter 8

"I have orders to trail our new friend for awhile." The teenage girl from yesterday, Alyson, met Morgan and Freddie with this information as they stepped out of the elevator at the BAU.

"Says who?" Morgan asked.

"The man upstairs himself said so."

"Rossi or Hotch?"

"My man upstairs, Rossi."

"Can I help deliver Freddie to my girl?" Morgan asked.

"Sure." The blonde in the pencil skirt smiled knowingly as she started with Morgan towards the bullpen.

Realizing that he was about to be left behind, Freddie trotted after them, surveying his surroundings as best as he could as he went. There was David Rossi's office, where "the man himself" was already hard at work. It couldn't be easy having to take over the new position. Aaron Hotchner's office was next, and he was already working as well. Jennifer Jareau's office was next, but JJ was at the kitchenette, talking with Spencer Reid,who was currently adding coffee to what looked like a coffee cup full of sugar. Morgan, of course, was not in his office. Alex Blake was also already at work, case files open on her desk as she poured over them.

Freddie began to wonder. Everyone else was already at work, doing their jobs, and he and Morgan had just arrived. Did that mean that...

"You're late, my love." Penelope accused as soon as Morgan stepped in the door with Freddie and Alyson trailing him.

"I'm sorry, Precious." Morgan kissed her, looking as repentant as he could muster up.

At the PDA, Alyson laughed to herself and Freddie rolled his eyes to cover his embarrassment.

"Is everyone here like this?" Freddie asked her.

Alyson turned to him, still grinning, and whispered, "Well, let's see... Rossi's girlfriend just died - long complicated story that we don't have time for right now - so he is not, no. Hotch is in a long-distance relationship, so as a general rule, neither is he. JJ is, of course, married to Will, and he usually doesn't hang around here, which means that we're good so far as their concerned. Alex is also married; her husband is a teacher at a university, Harvard, as a matter of fact. My brother's girlfriend also recently passed away."

Freddie whistled. "Wow... we work with a bunch of brainiacs, huh?"

"Yeah, they are."

"So, what about you?"

"Me? Oh, I just kind of came in as my big brother's kid sister tag along, and the team and I decided that I should stick around. Unlike my brother with an IQ of 187, I have no outstanding talents that make me irreplaceable."

"I'm sure you've got something, otherwise they wouldn't keep you around."

"I've got connections, and that's enough to keep me here. Now, you... you have nothing except for Penelope's belief in you, a belief that pretty no one else in this building shares with her. So I would suggest that you move very carefully around here. Step slowly and lightly and all the people here who think that you don't belong will either come to accept you or phase you out entirely. Take the advice from someone who knows."

Startled at the change in her, Freddie asked the first question that came to his mind. "The team doesn't like having you here?"

"They like me just fine," Alyson amended, frowning. "So long as I stay in my protective, padded bubble and ignore the fact that we are daily surrounded by serial killers, they don't have a problem with me or my presence. There are others in the building, though they're at least not a part of this team, who think that I don't belong. Although, I guess that's the way that it is everywhere, huh?"

Freddie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. You're probably right."

"'Probably'." Alyson repeated with a smirk.

"Alright," Morgan spoke up. "Well, I am off to my office to review a mountain of case files. Freddie, play nice with these ladies, you hear me?"

"Oh," Alyson spoke up before Freddie could open his mouth, her smirk becoming suggestive. "I'm sure he'll play very nicely."

Morgan shot a stern, unmistakable glare between her and the shocked Freddie before he exited Garcia's lair, shutting the door behind himself.

"You're going to get me in trouble!" Freddie muttered to Alyson.

Alyson shrugged. "People are going to talk, you might as well get used to the idea."

Penelope spoke up this time. "She's right. Now, Mr. Freddie Benson, why don't you take a seat here by the goddess of wisdom and all things technical and we can go ahead and get you started. First off, let's get you some identification papers so that you can get in here all on your own instead of riding in on my chocolate god's access badge. That sound okay with you?"

Freddie moved cautiously to sit in the chair beside Penelope that the technical analyst had indicated while watching her uncertainly. Her exuberance was a little unnerving, especially considering the conversation that he'd just had with Alyson.

"Sure. That, uh... sounds great."

"Great!" Penelope whirled around to face one of her many computers, and thus Freddie Benson was initiated into the world of the Quantico, Virginia, Behavioral Analysis Unit.

* * *

"Here," Later on during the day, Penelope motioned to a chair beside her at the kitchenette's lunch table. "You can sit by me. I promise that the boss man won't bite too hard."

Freddie glanced nervously at Aaron Hotchner before sliding into the seat between him and Penelope. As the others started in on their lunches around him, he opened his lunch and did the same. As he lifted his sandwich to take his first bite, his phone went off. He snatched the phone out of his pocket, recognizing the ringtone that meant Carly was calling.

He glanced at Morgan, who was sitting on the other side of Penelope. "It's the wifey."

"And?" Morgan asked with raised eyebrows.

Freddie sighed. "You know... what I said earlier today?"

"What about it? She deserves to know one way or the other."

Freddie sighed, knowing that Morgan was right, and answered the phone. "Hi, Carly."

 


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey,friend," she said cheerfully. "You texted early this morning. Shouldn't you have been in school then?"

"Yeah..." Freddie stood up from the table and started wandering back towards Penelope's lair - maybe he could call it his too now? "About school and stuff... um, I'm taking a break from school for a couple of weeks; things have come up that I need to get settled first."

"Really?" Carly asked. "Things about your mom still?"

"Yeah, sort of. Well... actually, no. The FBI showed up in Seattle earlier this week and caught the guy, so all of the stuff with my mom is officially put to rest and completely done."

"Okay, well that's great, Freddie." She paused before asking, "What's come up then?"

"Well, see, here's the thing..." Freddie swallowed nervously, knowing that she wasn't going to take the full truth very well. "I was kind of the reason that the case was brought to the FBI's attention."

"How was that?" she asked incredulously.

He sighed, admitting, "Well, I got kind of stupid after my mom was killed. I tried to find the guy on my own and I did a lot of technological hacking to try and do it."

"Hacking into what?" she asked slowly, nervously.

He used his new pass card to get into the lair and sit down in Penelope Garcia's rolling chair before he answered her question.

"Federal databases," Freddie muttered, already cringing.

"Freddie!" she screamed at him over the phone. "But that's illegal, isn't it?"

He whispered, "Yeah."

"Oh my gosh! Freddie!"

Carly was really losing it now, he could tell. She started screaming; no words, just shrill, panicky screaming.

"Carly!" Freddie tried unsuccessfully to calm his irate girlfriend. "Carly, listen, calm down! I'm fine!"

All of this went on for what seemed like an eternity before she suddenly froze, stopped cold and stayed silent for a full three seconds before asking, her voice suddenly low and eerily calm, "Freddie. Are you in jail?"

"No, that's what I've been trying to tell you-"

"Good," her voice became so soft and caring that for some reason it made Freddie wary as she cut him off, saying, "Then I can say this without feeling even worse than I will anyway. Freddie, I... I met this guy at my new school."

Freddie felt trepidation creep into his very soul. He could already feel the last bit of normalcy that he still had in his life slipping away, yet he tried to keep his tone nonchalant as he said, "So?"

"Don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you? Freddie, this guy, Antonio, and I... we're dating now."

Hearing her actually say the words made Freddie's ears ring as a stony weight was dropped into his stomach from out of the middle of nowhere. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the top of the chair as the room started to spin around him.

"Yeah, I know what you meant."

"And?" Carly asked nervously.

"And it's whatever."

"No, it's not, is it?"

Freddie remained silent, gritting his teeth. He desperately wanted to scream at the selfish, naive, overly-indulged _little girl_  on the other end of the phone, just as she had screamed at him only a moment before. This was  _not_  how this conversation was supposed to be going.

After the silence grew to be too long, Carly finally said softly, "Listen, Freddie, I like you, I really do, and I hope that we can remain friends, but this - us as a couple - just isn't going to work. I mean, I live in Florence, Italy, now. I'm really, really sorry that this had to happen this way, but we're just way too far apart for this to work out. I think it's time that we move on."

"Fine," Freddie said shortly, his own tone hardening as his eyes flew back open. "That's fine by me."

And then he cut the call short. After ending the call, he just sat there for a second in the utter silence, head still resting on the chair as he stared at the dark ceiling. Then he leaned forward and stared at the phone in his hand for a second. And then he shattered the silence. Yelling out his rage, he flung his phone across the room at the wall.

As the phone clattered to a stop on the floor, the most startling feeling washed over the uprooted teenager. Relief. Carly was gone now, and he no longer had to deal with her naivety, with her trying so hard to understand what he was thinking and what he was going through yet still not being able to. Better yet, he hadn't even been the one to break it off with her, even though he had been seriously considering doing just that.

He stood up from the chair and grabbed his phone from off of the floor, all of his anger gone, replaced by a calm that he almost didn't recognize as his own. It had been so long since he had felt this sort of peace. Was that really all he had needed to get the events of these last few tumultuous months out of his system? No, he didn't think so; he thought that it had to do with the bigger picture. Breaking up with Carly was the breaking of the final string that had held him to Seattle and the sometimes good, sometimes horrible life that he had lived there.

That life, he realized, had ended yesterday, maybe even months ago, when his mother had died. But now, now he could really move on in every aspect of his life. Maybe in time he would come to love the city of Quantico, Virginia, like he had always loved Seattle, Washington. Maybe, just maybe, because of the things that had happened in his recent past, he could rebuild his life here with the BAU team.


	10. Chapter 10

Just then, the door to the lair was cautiously opened. Hearing it, Freddie whirled around to see the unit chief, Aaron Hotchner, standing there.

"What just happened?" the stern-looking man asked.

Freddie looked at the phone in his hand. "My girlfriend broke up with me."

The agent came to stand beside Freddie. He peered at the phone and the two of them noticed the new hairline crack across the screen at the same time.

"I assume you threw your cell, and that's what I heard... besides the screaming?" Agent Hotchner asked.

"Yeah," Freddie murmured.

Hotchner nodded. Was that understanding that Freddie saw in his eyes? This guy understanding teenage breakup problems? No, not likely.

But Hotchner's reply made Freddie wonder. "Stuff like that hurts, doesn't it?"

Freddie shrugged. "We live so far apart that it really was bound to happen at some point. I was even thinking of doing it myself."

"Even so, it can't leave you feeling on top of the world."

"Nah, I'm fine."

Hotchner raised his eyebrows, not buying it. "So why did you throw your phone then?"

Freddie stared at the wall for a second before admitting, "Alright, so maybe it's not entirely okay."

"I thought not." Hotchner nodded before adding, "But take it from someone who knows: you will eventually get over it, maybe you won't get over your girlfriend, but you'll be able to move past her."

"Ex-girlfriend. And thanks for the peppy, uplifting talk."

Hotchner smirked. "I'm only telling you what I know about. Being completely honest, though: I've been your age; we both know that you'll eventually get over her. Besides - and this isn't something that I would usually say, let alone encourage - but I'm really thinking kind of along the same lines as Rossi and Morgan."

"How so? "Freddie asked, confused.

"Alyson."

Freddie shook his head. "That won't happen, believe me. I have more self-preservation than that. If all of these agents have adopted her into their little family, I'm not about to try and date her. I would get way too many guns aimed at me, thanks."

Even though Freddie was deadly serious, he saw a rare smile twitch at the other man's mouth. Then the light in his eyes dimmed and he became serious again as he mulled over Freddie's words.

"You know," Hotch commented. "If you play your cards right here, you might just find yourself being a part of the family too."

Freddie sighed. "That would be nice."

"Alright, then I guess that you have something to aim for, and here's how you do it: do your job and, when the time comes - and I really do think that it will come - step lightly around Alyson when you start trying to get her attention."

"I'm not going to try and get Alyson's attention!" Freddie objected, voice rising.

"Profilers know what they're talking about." Hotchner defended.

Freddie muttered, "Not this time, you don't."

* * *

**Six months later**

But Hotch did know what he was talking about, and he had been right. It hadn't taken long for Freddie to get over Carly, as both men really known that it wouldn't. Freddie had slowly made his way into the heart of the BAU family. And, starting one month ago, he had officially made it into the heart of one Alyson Reid. It had taken a while, but they had gotten to know one another, becoming friends, and then letting it become something more.

Over the space of the past long seven months, Freddie had gone from the emotional agony and anger of his mother's brutal death to the trauma of having to move from Seattle, Washington to Quantico, Virginia, to the high that he was currently riding on.

He was gathered with the others of what he could now call his team around a huge table in David Rossi's house - no, make that mansion. The table was piled high with amazing-smelling Thanksgiving food, and Freddie was indeed feeling thankful. Alyson was sitting on one side of him and Freddie's new best friend, Spencer Reid, was beside her. Penelope Garcia was on the other side of Freddie, newly-married and pregnant though she was, with her husband, Derek Morgan, on the other side of her.

Hotch, Morgan, Will and Dave started in on a bottle of scotch with James Blake, who had showed up for the holiday. Alex and Reid sat discussing some classic novel from the 1500s. JJ and Beth - who had also flown in for Thanksgiving - were discussing the upcoming baby with Penelope. Freddie smiled to himself as he felt Alyson slip her hand into his under the table.

Just because of this holiday scene, in a way, he was glad that those horrible things had happened. Murdered mother, serial killer, move, BAU and all, Freddie had learned to become happy with this new life that he was living. Despite all the things that had happened, and what those things were, they were the things that had led to his new life here. And he was happy.

 


End file.
